


harder to be the one who survived

by thissupposedcrime



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Humor, Multi, Spoilers for Season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-16 23:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15447870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thissupposedcrime/pseuds/thissupposedcrime
Summary: “Well,” Shirogane offers delicately, as if he was an innocent to the chaos and not the instigator who dropped both the metaphorical and physical leash, “he’s not my space wolf.”Fittingly, a piece of the ceiling crumbles in front of Montgomery as a shriek of, “Oh my god, he bit James” echoes from the barracks. Iverson prays they’re not talking about a human.This is why no one questions the appallingly high budget allocations for counselling services.Or, in no particular order: Team Voltron returns to Earth, Colleen Holt terrorizes the Galaxy Garrison, a rabid teleporting dog defends his owner’s love life, the officer’s lounge runs out of alcohol, and the aliens are the least of Iverson’s problems.





	harder to be the one who survived

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse.
> 
> title comes from Ruta Sepetya's quote, "Was it harder to die, or harder to be the one who survived?” which is tragic, but fitting because for Iverson, survival is indeed harder
> 
> Unbetaed, written in a day. I know Season 7 episode 1 proves Iverson’s eye was already injured but let me have this.

Commander Iverson’s perpetual living nightmare has many origin points, each dependent on how far into a bottle of whiskey he is or the new nadirs of despair the cadets locate in their simulator scores.

They’re getting stupider each year. All of the instructors know it, himself included. Everyone’s just trying to retire before confronting the issue. The track record for great students has been shameful enough without analyzing those in the middle of the pack.

Sometimes the beginning of the end is Takashi Shirogane, bright eyed and energetic, gracefully supporting the burden of perfection on his poster ready shoulders. It continued with the diagnosis that should have sidelined him if Samuel Holt hadn’t intervened and robbed the Garrison of the epitome of a model spokesman.

Goddamn Sam Holt.

Goddamn Kerberos.

 _Tragedy_ continues with more whiskey, the scarlet rage of Shirogane’s pet project, his do no wrong darling who took out Iverson’s fucking eye and ran off with every record for a pilot the Garrison keeps track of.

Between the washout and Shirogane, Harris took it upon himself to stop demonstrating lessons with old simulator vids. There are no nice things his teachers can have in this haunted institution.

Katie Holt breaks into his office. Maudlin, he just adds another flaw into the column of the Holt family in deciding what has ruined his life most.

 _Goddamn Sam Holt_.

Shirogane crashes through the atmosphere with a robot arm and an avenging angel that breaks four of Montgomery’s ribs. Three students go rogue.

Later, he orders everyone to treat seeing a flying lion as a mirage and locks himself in his office for two days, arguing with admirals about a transfer.

* * *

**“Quarantine AWOL Cadets”**

**Transcript 5.2**

**Included: B. Garrett, T. McClain, J. McClain (civilians, parents of AWOL students); M. Iverson, L. Montgomery, T. Hendrick (staff)**

Garrett: “How do you know my son wasn’t taken against his will?”

Montgomery: “Ma’m, he’s seen on video-”

J. McClain: “Running from armed soldiers as a minor, with other minor students?”

T. McClain: “What regulations were in place to prevent this from happening? All you’ve done is blame Lance. Our son has gone missing on your watch, and you treat him like a fugitive war criminal?”

Garrett: “Where is Hunk?”

Iverson: “Are you claiming you’ve had no contact with your children, nor do you have no means of locating them?”

Hendrick: “Should we wait for Colleen Holt to arrive before questioning potential locations, sir?”

Iverson: “Why is Holt necessary to this conversation?”

Hendrick: “Because her daughter is one of the missing students?”

J. McClain: “You don’t know which students you lost? Is it just our sons and Miss Holt?”

Garrett: “Oh my god. I knew attending the Garrison would be a mistake. I knew it. But I let him go. This is my fault.”

T. McClain: “No. Its theirs! I want my son back!”

Iverson: “Katie Holt was Pidge Gunderson? She was banned from the premise!”

J. McClain: “Was? Are they dead?”

Hendrick: “That’s still continuing? Holt did nothing to disguise herself except look and sound more like her missing brother.”

Garrett: “There’s another missing kid?”

Montgomery: “Quiet Hendrick.”

Hendrick: “It was obvious. I’m not calling Holt. She terrifies me. One of you can do it.”

Iverson: “***. This is the most unprofessional behavior I’ve seen in ******* ******* ******* ******...” ( _Commentary redacted from official records_.)

* * *

Before marrying her accursed husband and giving him two strange children that prematurely balded Iverson, Colleen Edison was a double major at the local state university, studying computer sciences and tech journalism.

Twenty years prior to aliens invading the planet, she wrote an expose of Iverson’s predecessor’s predecessor embezzling 5.2 million dollars from a launch to Titan to silence not one, not two, but three mistresses. Via a hitman. Who he communicated to through coded, but leaked, emails that wound up on her desk. Which ruined the Garrison’s credibility and Iverson’s first promotion.

And then a junior scientist had the gall to marry her.

With enough whiskey and sleep deprivation, Iverson joins the hallowed ranks of men who view Colleen Edison Holt as karmic retribution for their sins.

In a different world, he might love her for it.

In this one, he gets to watch her break Richardson’s jaw before throwing a flight manual at his head as her lawyer meekly watches from the hallway.

The mother and cub nature documentaries Dos Santos likes did nothing to prepare them for this, Iverson thinks, as she roars, “Where the hell is my daughter?”

Behind her, the lawyer keeps adding zeros to the new settlement payment.

* * *

Colleen sits across from him in a meeting room. Wearing a sundress, her hair has been styled into gentle waves that dance across her shoulders. She is serene and composed. The other parents and lawyers flank either side of her, increasingly nervous. Since revealing she was the mother and wife of _that_ Holt family, everyone has looked to her for guidance.

Iverson doesn’t need two eyes to recognize such an obvious trap. This is a ringleader. This is the enemy.

“This,” Montgomery will tell him later, face plastered against a desk, “is why the lawyers don’t let us speak to the families directly anymore.”

A Garrison lawyer intones solemnly, “We recognize this is a traumatizing event for you all. Like you, we share the same goal of wanting to get your children back immediately.”

Another lawyer joins in, and a third continues the prepared speech. No one is to acknowledge that they lose enough students to have a set dialogue. Luckily, Richardson still has a broken jaw, and no one invited Hendrick.

There are no small mercies anymore, but Iverson takes what he can.

Before a lawyer for the families begins the tennis match of back and forth, Colleen, predictably in the wasteland of Iverson’s life post Takashi Shirogane, hijacks the meeting.

“I’m glad we’re in agreement. Finding our children, alive, needs to remain the focus.” One of the other mother’s crosses herself as her husband holds her.

“With that in mind, I’d like to forgo any potential settlement paperwork or conversations about how my daughter went missing so the resources can be spent locating her. This isn’t the time for blame,” Colleen continues, as if she hasn’t delivered a wish to make her lawyer weep in despair.

Her lawyer gapes. The other parents still. With little subtlety, one of the Garrison administrators pinches herself. How is he the only one concerned?

The Garrison went after her minor daughter with weapons and mishandled her so badly she was able to join under a different name and gender, rendering their security pitifully obsolete but still legally responsible.

And Colleen Holt just accepts it.

“I’m sorry to conclude here so suddenly, but I need time alone. Please send additional paperwork to sign through my lawyer.” She stands, and, without looking back, exits the room, leaving confusion in her wake.

She _leaves_. _Effortlessly_.

Iverson didn’t keep the second eye by accepting gift horses. In return, they call him paranoid.

“Maybe,” Montgomery will offer that night, sloshing around a fifth glass of wine that, “this loss broke her? Christ, we don’t need to rehash it, but her entire family is gone. There’s a _limit_ to what you can endure without still having something left.”

Richardson mumbles agreement from a nearby couch, jaw still healing.

Dos Santos adds, “Look, considering what happened,” gesturing to Richardson, “she likely needs time and distance from the place. We’ll hear from her eventually if we can’t find Katie. Until then, let the lawyers handle it.”

In hindsight, Iverson should never listen to any of them again.

* * *

Four days pass.

Students gossip about what happened to their peers and fall in three distinct categories:

  1. Aliens. Surprisingly, for teens training to be astroexplorers, this is not the popular guess. Truly, the getting stupider theory grows stronger each class. 
  2. Keith Kogane absconded with the missing trio. His motives vary from revenge to melodramatic love story gone wrong. Every hour it seems there’s another disciplinary issue for barricading doors in fear to shouting about how the ghost of Shirogane drove Keith to madness. Hendrick panics and drags every student who mentions Shirogane to the office in fear they know something. See group one. They know nothing. 
  3. They cracked under the pressure, running off to die in the desert. Eventually, this might prove true. No one has told the families, but they sent drones designed to look for corpses after a week. 



* * *

On the fifth unholy day, Dos Santos destroys the hinges to his office door in his rush to find Iverson.

Future Instructor Ryu, drunk on rum and tequila, will tell them he heard Dos Santos shout, “Colleen Holt never signed a fucking Non Disclosure Agreement” through the two soundproof offices separating them.

A newspaper headline reads, _Galaxy Garrison Students Go Missing_. The tagline is _Instructors Offer No Solutions or Answers_.

What military training could prepare them for goddamn Colleen Holt?

* * *

Admirals swarm the Garrison. Classes are cancelled. Iverson doesn’t sleep.

Colleen Holt hides behind a computer and wages an unholy war of vengeance. Montgomery doesn’t sleep.

A student uses their contraband cell phone and sells pictures of the robot lion in the desert. Dos Santos doesn’t sleep.

 _Kerberos Pilot Discovered Captured by Galaxy Garrison_ blares another headline. It’s been a month.

No one sleeps.

And that’s before the conspiracy theorists start protesting outside recruiting centers.

* * *

Adam Keene could have been a problem. Half the staff assumed he would be. Witnessing the burning wreckage of Keith Kogane’s departure, cemented with injuring a senior officer, and screams of indignation against Shirogane’s insulted honor, gives perspective. Much perspective.

Office Ulric still twitches whenever Kogane is mentioned. No one wants to be a player in this type of love story.

Nobly, they all ignore it. There’s only so much they can be expected to handle, and no one but Shirogane signed up for that.

But Keene was the former next of kin, the once emergency contact, the one presented with boxes of Shirogane’s effects.

He has influence. He has motive. He has grief, unparalleled and incomparable.

Keene stands over the burial plot they reserved for Shirogane, signed the paperwork to accept the placement of an empty casket. Publicly, he agrees with the doctors about Shirogane’s deteriorating condition and stays out of the limelight.

And then they need to yank Adam from his classroom to ask where his ex-boyfriend with the alien arm went before the press can.

Iverson wishes for pilot error every fucking day.

* * *

**An Incomplete List of Tragedies the Galaxy Garrison Suffers Awaiting the Return of the AWOL Cadets, Shirogane, and the Burnout**

  1. Colleen Holt
  2. An intern at Colleen Holt’s news organization writes an editorial called “The Space Bar” detailing the drinking habits of the staff at the Galaxy Garrison. His evidence comes from personal experience of his twin sisters attending, meeting multiple staff in multiple bars and buying them enough liquor to concern a hospital, and just common sense. Even the public know they can’t deal with the space lion drama sober.
  3. The Space Bar pun rises in popularity. Montgomery swears he saw tourists in the nearby town wearing shirts emblazoned with the phrase.
  4. The Galaxy Garrison was always a dry campus, primarily populated with underaged students. Secretaries of the admirals descend like harpies to remove alcohol from staff offices. 
  5. Hendrick cries.
  6. Richardson cancels classes for two days, recovering from the hangover that stems from drinking all the secret liquor hidden in his office. 
  7. Iverson and the rest of the staff now awkwardly pretend not to notice students sneaking into bars. (It’s rough for all involved.)
  8. An award winning podcast titled, “Apollo-gies: Turmoil at the Galaxy Garrison” begins. Iverson bans space puns or merchandise supporting it, but nothing stops the tide. 
  9. Every month the podcast tackles a different catastrophe in Galaxy Garrison history. Colleen Holt appears three times, discussing her early hitman article, her husband, and her children.
  10. The icon of the podcast is a lion in metallic blue colors. The closing line is “Where are the lions, Iverson? Where are they?” People shout it at Garrison officials in public.
  11. Three Garrison staff try to sue Holt for slander. The podcast creates weekly editions summarizing how the public reacts. (Poorly. They react poorly. What’s the point of waking in the morning?)
  12. Enrollment plummets from their standard schools; parents are less inclined to send their children. If Iverson was a parent, one not dedicated to banishing his child as far away as possible, including into space, he would do the same. 
  13. Staff and students keep getting dragged into PR meetings that won’t end. 
  14. Someone suggests diversifying what schools the Garrison scouts from. A hush falls over the crowd. Some look to the sky, others look to Iverson’s injured eye. No one says Kogane’s name. They don’t need to.The idea is voted down unanimously.
  15. Per the request of lawyers, Iverson does not make any recorded documentation of the conspiracy theorists. Allegedly, there are videos of Garrison staff confronting people in lion costumes and knock-off uniforms. Iverson disavows any knowledge. 
  16. Colleen Holt again.
  17. Samuel Holt returns with alien ship schematics and prophecies of doom. Iverson still prefers him to his wife. 



* * *

Nothing good happens in this conference room.

Sam Holt gently cradles his wife to his side. To him, she is an angelic paragon he’s missed more than anything. Iverson and the rest of the Garrison know the truth.

Holt should be thanking them profusely instead of ignoring their questions. There are currently too many witnesses for Colleen to enact whatever cruelty she’s got planned due to his abandonment.

“The kids are fine,” he offers to the McClain and Garrett parents, waving video messages in the air. “Once Voltron is done defeating the Galra empire, they plan to return.” Smiling spritely, he hugs his wife closer. “Our son Matt is a rebel leader. He’s doing so well. We should all be proud.”

Before anyone can ask about what Voltron or Galra empire mean, Sam turns to Iverson and says, “Shiro says hello and can’t wait to catch up.” Iverson feels a target materialize on his forehead.

Keene interrupts, “Takashi is still alive? We thought they all died.” Multiple staffers nod, ignorant to the whiplash speed in which the AWOL cadets’ parents turn to stare them down. That’s going in the conversations with the lawyers. It always does.

“I just left him, Katie, Matt, Hunk, Lance, and their friends. All alive,” he pauses momentarily before sending a reassuring grin to the families, “I didn’t see their friend Keith because he’s working with the Galra resistance fighters but Shiro’s keeping tabs well enough.”

And Kogane’s running with aliens who are teaching him new and inventive ways to kill.

Wonderful.

Goddamn Sam Holt.

* * *

In Iverson’s favored universe, the Kerberos mission would have been completed cleanly. No aliens would jumpstart scientific developments, no hormonal pining teenager would injure his eye socket, and maybe Mr. Harris wouldn’t need professional help due to the stress.

Instead, he doesn’t even have the luxury of claiming Samuel Holt is certifiably insane. Colleen Holt still hasn’t signed a non disclosure agreement.

Aliens are coming

This is the future he joined the Garrison to avoid.

Precious weeks after the one year anniversary of Shirogane’s temporary return, five brightly colored lions treat the Garrison pavement as personal landing pads.

“Katie’s home!” Holt shouts to his crew, waving from the window. Someone is on the phone with his wife. Great.

Richardson takes a flask from his boot and downs it in twenty seconds flat.

The alternate Iverson wouldn’t find that admirable.

This one does.

* * *

“Are they supposed to be color coordinated?” Montgomery whispers behind him. Lance McClain wears blue and exits the red lion. An alien in pink walks out of blue.

An alien. In pink. Followed by two other aliens.

Katie Holt launches herself into her father’s arms and remains one of the only matching pilots. Her brother follows. Another headache Iverson didn’t miss.

If he focuses on them long enough, self-preservation will kick in and allow him to ignore Shirogane and his bad dye job devotedly following Kogane and trailed by a giant wolf...a giant space wolf...and another alien. A Galra. Who are coming to destroy the planet.

Why the hell aren’t the admirals here? This isn’t up to him to handle. He just teaches kids.

Or he used to. Iverson refuses ownership of any of these messes.

Less than two years until early retirement.

“Commander Iverson,” Shirogane says. Alien space wolf cocks its head, leaning its furry body against Shirogane. “What...what happened to your eye?”

Iverson glowers at Kogane, clad in red armor. The yellow pilot hums nervously.

“Pilot error,” Kogane says, placidly, inching over to block Shirogane from Iverson’s view. It does nothing to hide the amused huff escaping Shirogane.

The earthlings from space and the aliens stare at Iverson expectantly. He has no doubt they’ve plotted their moves dependent on his hostility. One of them likely includes taking his other eye.

“Quarantine.”

Former cadets McClain and Garrett exchange a look. He’s above guessing what goes through teenagers’ minds even when paid to care, but the pity radiating from them is obvious.

Garrett steps forward and whispers, “Don’t.” Beside him, McClain waves a hand across his neck.

No one listens.

“Quarantine. All of you separate. Montgomery, take the women. Dos Santos, lead the men. Someone get a muzzle for the dog and containment units for the aliens,” Iverson repeats.

“That is not what we discussed,” Samuel Holt protests, wrapped up in his daughter and son.

“Your plans didn’t account for more creatures than humans.” They also didn’t account for Kogane, but that’s not a grudge anyone needs to address.

“My team stays together,” Kogane says, walking forward to stare at Iverson. He’s taller now, and a lesser man might find the scar across his cheek intimidating. “That’s non-negotiable. We don’t need quarantine. The lions have removed all harmful contaminants, and our technology means any alien biology not compatible with our oxygen won’t prevent them from breathing.”

“You expect us to believe you of all people? All you’ve done for years is disrespect authority and the Galaxy Garrison. Your orders are clear cadets. Fall in line,” a lieutenant orders.

Somewhere, deep in Iverson’s soul, he admits he’s going to dodge the second Kogane starts getting ready to move. Kogane’s friends look ready to protest or fight, including the dog, fur bristling. The humans have flanked their alien companions without being asked.

“They’re not your cadets. I’m not either. The Galra are coming, and we’re going to do everything in our power to prepare and defend Earth, even if that means going through you. Or do you expect us to believe Professor Holt only told the Galaxy Garrison about this?” Keith says. He’s not wrong. Holt quickly demonstrated the Garrison alone didn’t have the resources. This is planetary now, and the Garrison just a hub.

A presumed alien with an orange mustache beams in pride. Great, now they have to deal with alien parental figures.

“Do you have anything to say about this Shirogane?” Dos Santos inquires, a last ditch effort before the situation spirals out of their tenuous control. Iverson doesn’t know why he bothers. Shirogane did everything in his power to protect and coddle his friend before they came home with matching scars and a domesticated space wolf. Maybe this is a form of alien marriage, and the idea of them becoming even more lovingly dependent on each other is arguably the most terrifying realization of today. God, the paperwork.

“Keith is the leader of Voltron. We follow his orders.” Iverson does not check for a wedding ring where Shirogane’s hand grips Keith’s shoulder.

The gates to the Garrison open behind them, with roughly a dozen people pouring out. Additional higher ups pause in shocked awe, staring at the lions, frozen.

“Takashi? Is it really you?” Adam Keene is one of them, the only one not distracted by the shiny metal alien robots. Of course he is. “Your hair. Your arm!”

“Adam.” Shirogane doesn’t step forward.

Space wolf does, however, _teleporting_ to launch all his weight against Keene, tackling him to the ground with a painful thunk of his head against the ground. The dog isn’t growling, but nothing about his frame or the sharp canine teeth is reassuring or friendly.

The space wolf teleports. Do all of them teleport now? Someone is screaming.

Iverson just watches, feeling like a spectator in his own body. Control ditched all of them like unwanted dreams, lost forever when Shirogane went to Kerberos.

“Cosmo, get off him!” Kogane starts whistling.

“Bad boy!” Shirogane at least moves forward to help.

With that, ‘Cosmo’ teleports back, jumping up on Shirogane’s chest as if expecting praise or cuddles. Despite ruining Keene’s spine with his weight, Shirogane has no trouble balancing the wolf in his arms as it licks his face. The purple alien behind Shirogane seems amused as Kogane fusses over the dog’s behavior.

Iverson will retire without benefits before any potential Shirogane-Kogane spawn can cross his path if this is their version of parenting.

“Do you still think containment will work?” Katie Holt’s screams at Iverson. Keene tries to get up, and the wolf accidentally teleports Shirogane with him as he goes for round two.

And just when events couldn’t be anymore strange, _it_ happens.

“Hi Mom!” Matt Holt shouts. The greeting strikes fear of a higher power in multiple officials and pauses the chaos. 

* * *

Upon reviewing the Voltron lions and seeing them in action, the Admirals, with backing from the United Nations and government, support a plan of letting the Paladins of Voltron and friends remain at the Galaxy Garrison to refuel and rest for a few weeks as the Castle of Lions is rebuilt. The proximity works in connecting them to numerous labs and even potentially create training programs designed with awareness of Galran physiology.

Iverson and his staff are instructed to keep the Paladins and royal aliens and terrorizing wolf happy.

The consequences will not be pleasant otherwise.  
  
Iverson refuses every transfer request that crosses his desk out of anguished spite and solidarity.

* * *

One compromise the Garrison tries, after Keene exits the infirmary (“Cosmo really loves Shiro and saw you as a threat. We’re sorry.”), is to leash Cosmo the space wolf. Fairly, Keith refuses to let anyone who isn’t a member of Voltron handle him, fearing experimentation.

Unfortunately, the usefulness of the leash depends on who wields it. Krolia, the Galra, refuses the leash, but Cosmo also refuses to cross her, so the Garrison considers it a victory. Keith ignores their request as well.

The self-proclaimed “OG Garrison Trio” use the leash only so they can be physically teleported too, for fun. Do they stop the wolf from going after people?

Absolutely not.

A few days after their arrival, Iverson looks away from monitors tracking flight patterns to see Shirogane jogging through the hallways, Cosmo trotting unperturbed at his side, unbothered by the leash. If he imagines the better world he could live, Iverson can pretend Cosmo is just an overly-large therapy dog.

Another good thing dies hours later when Cosmo and Shirogane stumble upon some of Kogane’s former peers loudly complaining about his return.

In discovering the origin of the screams and banging of a teleporting space wolf’s quest for vengeance, Iverson is unsurprised to find Shirogane. His right arm has been detached and remains on the floor. Holt and Garrett and the Coran alien have spent far too much time gushing about the limb for anyone to believe it would detach without Shirogane’s consent. Naturally it’s the right arm that gave them all so much concern years prior. It’s also the one topic none of them will broach.

There was a reason Shirogane was the brightest of them.

“Well,” Shirogane offers delicately, as if he was an innocent to the chaos and not the instigator who dropped both the metaphorical and physical leash, “he’s not my space wolf.”

Fittingly, a piece of the ceiling crumbles in front of Montgomery as a shriek of, “Oh my god, he bit James” echoes from the barracks. Iverson prays they’re not talking about a human.

This is why no one questions the appallingly high budget allocations for counselling services.

“That was unexpected,” Shirogane says as Cosmo teleports back. No blood is dripping from his mouth, but he remains content all the same.

They don’t bother with the leash anymore.

* * *

Montgomery and Dos Santos walks into his office with three bottles of whiskey. Admirals are constantly wandering the building. This is an unnecessary risk.

“Krolia is Keith’s mother.” Montgomery throws back a shot. Dos Santos takes two.

Iverson swallows three and laments internally about everything wrong Takashi Shirogane has ever done.

* * *

The posters are unexpected, unwarranted, and unwanted.

They’re also garish eyesores in neon paper and glittery gel pen. Each appears at the location of Space Wolf’s latest attack, because, of course, hunting down spaces Keith felt uncomfortable isn’t a one time incident.

The mysterious poster creators treat the sites of destruction like museum pieces that must be explored and explained, the subtle nuances lost on the mainstream viewer’s ignorance…

Or that’s what the first sign says, carefully positioned next to a broken display case down the hallway from the sleeping quarters. Despite their best repairs, claw marks discolor the edge of the wood.

Another poster reads, “Keith had a bad time here!” Roughly a dozen frowny faces follow. Iverson refuses to count. Aliens are falling from the sky, and the Galaxy Garrison crumbled on his watch, but that’s no excuse to let insanity’s grip tighten on him enough to care about a sparkly scowl.

With great regret, Iverson recognizes this example as the least dramatic.

Others follow with insulting caricatures of the players involved, specific students targeted, their list of grievances against Keith outlined in traces of dog and gleeful paladins of Voltron finding their amusement where they can in the once sacred halls.

The security cameras never catch the demonic space wolf or anyone hanging the posters. Krolia’s face remains unamused when Garrison officials try to confront her. They quickly stop. Shirogane feigns cluelessness but no one approaches him with hopes of change. Shirogane shares a room with the dog and Keith. He has the power to stop this. He’s had the power to temper Keith for years, but all he’s given Iverson is a special prescription for stress headaches.

His personal office is the next victim. The stuffing in his desk chair has been ripped out, the desk overturned, and remnants of debris clutter the floor, left behind by a miniature hurricane.

In lieu of a poster, someone pasted paper against the nearby walls. The first begs passerby to guess what Iverson did to merit such rampant destruction. Adjacent pieces of paper allow for people to actually write out suggestions. Finally, someone had drawn a crude grid for tallying how many times Iverson chewed Keith out.

Standing in his ravaged office, Iverson realizes his great mistake, the one decision that developed this timeline of regret: giving Shirogane so much leeway. If they didn’t send him to talk to students, they wouldn’t have Keith. If they didn’t want to keep Shirogane involved even after his diagnosis, they could have gotten rid of Keith before Shiro swept in every time to divert attention and wrath. If that bond didn’t develop, Keith wouldn’t have spiraled and taken out his grief on any of them (Iverson). If Keith didn’t love Shiro, he wouldn’t have gone to space, and Iverson could sleep at night without questioning which room would be marked as territory in an imagined conflict with a teleporting dog.

He blamed the wrong family for far too long.

But still.

Goddamn Holts.

* * *

One morning, Iverson wakes to a beautiful sunrise, well made coffee, and silence.

It takes all of five minutes for him to panic over these developments.

Walking in to his office, Hendrick announces, “Team Voltron is not here.”

“Have you checked the security cameras or discussed with Holt where they’ve gone?” Christ, even they wouldn’t be irresponsible enough to fight off an invasion without warning anyone.

“They left a note,” Hendrick says, as if admitting the additional piece of news took something from his soul. He hands over a yellow sticky note reading _Beach Day, Back Tomorrow_.

“Should I contact the admirals to warn them?” Hendrick’s offer is pitifully weak, and they both know it. Iverson is the only one who can tell the admirals the paladins fucked off for sunshine and to scare the locals with close ups of aliens.

The students gossip about if aliens can get sunburn. Iverson will not admit he’s curious over the answer and refuses to do more than report to the higher ups

(Galra can’t burn, Alteans can, and there’s never been so much sand grittying up the hallway.)

This might be hell.

* * *

**The Top Five Things Iverson Won’t Miss as the Castle of Lion Nears Completion**

  1. The crushing weight of existential dread prompted by awaiting an alien invasion and the stark realization of the pitiful smallness of humanity. (This could be lower on the list if Katie Holt and friends didn’t find a secret stash of alcohol in Ryu’s desk and played “How Quickly Can We Throw and Extinguish Molotov Cocktails?” The admirals were unhappy, so Iverson was made unhappy, so everyone was made unhappy.)
  2. Cosmo the Space Wolf’s attempts to tackle anyone who upset Keith, with priority focus on Adam Keene. Unfortunately, what follows is Shirogane looking heartbroken as if the Wolf’s quest for vengeance against his ex-boyfriend is a symbol of doubt Kogane feels about their relationship. Or whatever they have. Iverson won’t ask, especially when Shirogane destroys the workout equipment in the gym after a recent graduate propositions Kogane. Shirogane likely believes this love affair is tragic. Despite that, when the last jump scare occurred and they were called over, they wore the other’s shirt and saliva was still drying on Shirogane’s neck around a hickey. Iverson didn’t need to picture that. None of them did. If their companions were any less destructive forces of evil, he might pity them. 
  3. Katie Holt, Lance McClain, and Hunk Garrett demonstrating commendable teamwork they were never prior capable of when under their tutelage. Their teamwork is a corruptive influence on the other students who believe losing their minds and morals like the trio guarantees them a future as a hero. Dos Santos swears the students have been helping hide space wolf’s hijinks. 
  4. Lawyers yell at the Garrison every day. They designate a staffer specifically for the phone calls and create countdowns until Voltron leaves. The lawyers have begun calling the higher ups’ lines directly. Someone cut a phone line, and now Montgomery needs to interview the staff about it. 
  5. The aliens. The earnest Altean alarms him, the princess fights him, the other travels around the Garrison with her human friends and points out anything that seems ridiculous. Krolia scares anyone who knew Keith, Iverson included. He won’t let himself be alone in a room with her, and he won’t let the streak die so close to the end. And yet, he recognizes with bitter irony, they are, collectively, the least of his concerns.



* * *

Commander Iverson doesn’t meet the parents. Cadets are separated from their families in emotionally charged goodbyes long before they cross his path. It’s better that way, especially for him.

Watching clinging groups of people huddled around the Voltron lions only reinforces these feelings. Every time he looks, he thinks another McClain has appeared and another dish is sent into the yellow lion. The ground is awash in tissues.

Thank God there’s only four Holts.

The aliens and demon wolf wait patiently to depart in their newly created Castle of Lions. Another structure Iverson hopes to not dream about.

His wishes are small and go ungranted, he thinks, watching Kogane and Shirogane walk around holding hands.

“What happens now?” Montgomery asks. They’ve been so focused on passing Voltron through their quarters that not nearly enough time has been spent finalizing the post-mission briefings.

"Oh,” Colleen Holt says, despite the fact she does not work at the Garrison and single handedly destroyed the public’s faith in them, “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

* * *

The next day's headline reads _In a Post-Voltron World, The Galaxy Garrison Must Improve_ by Colleen Edison Holt. 

It launches a book deal and another award winning podcast. 

Iverson buys a calendar countdown to retirement, only to find it replaced with a Voltron themed calendar.

He wishes he lost the other eye.

**Author's Note:**

> this piece came at me out of no where and was completed in less than a day, so sorry the humor isn't great. my one regret is not finding a better way of bringing romelle in here because I love her and I love season 7 her already. 
> 
> I assumed Space Wolf, having shared memories with Keith on space whale, likely has a hit list and no impulse control, but wanted to demonstrate how mature my son is, especially post season 6
> 
> Because Iverson is so formal and a commander, I had him use last names for the cadets and went with popular fanon ones for the crew
> 
> [Feel free to scream about this series with me on tumblr](http://thissupposedcrime.tumblr.com/)


End file.
